How to manage this budget and spending

[Indie1234]

Hiya
This is my first post, I am 29 and on a new salary of 60k and living in a houseshare so rent and household bills come in at 450 a month

I also pay 3 percent into a pension and also have student loan contributions im paying back

My salary comes to 3255 a month take home but i am somehow spending all of it and more, has anyone got advice on how i can save / budget please

I don't see the need for YNAB. All the OP needs to do is pay her rent on payday, set up a SO to a savings account that she pretends doesn't exist and doesn't touch, leave enough in her main bank account to pay for the small number of subscriptions she has and the rest of her money is her spending money for the month.

It sounds like you haven't used YNAB. It makes you realise that generic savings doesn't work and helps you figure out all the irregular bills that crop up across a year or even every 5 years. I keep all of my money in my current account but when checking if I can afford something I look at my YNAB account, never my current account. It helps me average out all of my spending across a year so I never have a tight month filled with lots of one-off bills. I'm already allocating money every month towards my tax, insurance and MOT for next February. In March I paid the balloon payment on my PCP car (£2,800) but it only cost £58 of that months salary, because Ive been allocating £58 a month to the balloon payment for the last 4 years. In April I spent £500 on a weekend away but thanks to Covid that moneys been sat there waiting to be spent on a holiday for over a year. I've got £180 to cover my eye test and new glasses next week because I've been putting away £15 a month since my last check up. It sounds like OP is the type of person who just doesn't see those expenses or how much of her monthly salary they take up because they feel like one-offs.

Of course generic savings work when all she needs to do is stop spending all her money on eating out. She'll build up a pot of money that will be available for whatever she likes.

The OP doesn't have a car. If she wanted to buy one, she could buy one out of her savings pot. If she's saving £1000+ a month, she'll know that she'll have money available for servicing, MOTs etc.

She also doesn't have much in the way off big one off 'house' expenses because she lives in a house share so the £450 she pays covers all her housing costs.

There is no extra benefit on spending £75 a year on an app that will need setting up and running to know that she has savings that could be used to buy a car, go on holiday or buy a house. Just looking at the balance of her savings account will tell her that for free.

Op work backwards. You've done low wage, you know it can be done. How much do you want to save per month? What's left divide up into your different pots. Set up a standing order to move that into your savings account and now it's gone. The rule is you cannot touch except for emergencies.

Have one account for all your bills/subscriptions etc. round up each one ie if it's £15 then budget £20. Then round up the total, if it's 680 allow over £700 each month.

For your spending money, can you be rusted with it in one go or need to move it over to your spending account each week?

We'll have to agree to disagree. It's the best investment I've ever made and if they tripled the price tomorrow I'd pay for it.

OP doesn't sound financially literate so expecting her to magically be able to look at a savings account and decide if she can afford something is unrealistic. I have £15k in my current account but I couldn't afford a £2k holiday (at least not without stuffing up other long term priorities). I bet if the OP looked at her account and saw £15k she'd happily drop £2k on a holiday without knowing what other things she needed that money for.

*without knowing what other things she needed that money for.

Stupid new site bugs

Download your bank statements. Be honest, what are you buying? Why are you spending so much on eating out / that coffee/ lunch sandwich. Make a real effort for a month to spend as little as possible, minimum supermarket food shops. Once you get into it it's quite satisfying knowing you have deliberately spent the minimum. Then you can sweep what's left at month end into a savings account, and every time you see that amount it will make you feel good.

OP, you are obviously bright and conscientious - you have a great job, and a degree. Make it your priority to get on top of this. Try the Money and Pensions Advisory Service website - they have a ton of advise and tools to help you get in control of your money. Good luck!

I'm with you on this. I see massive love for YNAB on here and I really don't see that it justifies it, IMO. But horses for courses, I suppose.

I budget using a spreadsheet, and that's all I need. 🤷‍♀️